Khama Billiat for Kaizer Chiefs?
KAIZER Chiefs are monitoring Khama Billiat’s situation at Mamelodi Sundowns and it is possible he could swap Chloorkop for Naturena, but how will this affect Steve Komphela’s first team plans?
As revealed by Soccer Laduma, Billiat’s future at the Brazilians remains under a cloud of doubt, with the Zimbabwean striker in the final year of his contact.
However, Saudi Arabian club Al Nasr’s interest in him seems to have subsided, which means that Chiefs could negotiate a move for the player sometime in January, which would make for an incredible transfer coup.
The first team players at Steve Komphela’s disposal would mean that either somebody will be moved away from their natural position or leave the club.
Alternatively, Komphela could alter his formation.
Billiat is regarded as a right winger and has excelled in that role for some time now. However, he plays almost entirely as a number 10 now (behind
Leonardo Castro, and then Percy Tau last season). He doesn’t often play wide. This reflected in Billiat’s chance creation statistics.
The former Ajax Cape Town man made seven assists last season. He made 6.8 final third passes per shot, which is an indication that, despite regularly finding the back of the net, his focus seemed to have been on playing in his teammates, as would be the case for many attacking midfielder.
An accuracy of 77.2 percent for his 17.7 final third passes per 90 minutes also indicates that he is highly creative. His shots and shots per 90 are also identical (2.62), which shows that he was capable to provide a threat individually as well as through his teammates.
However, as a result of occupying a spot through the middle of the attack, he completed just 1.09 dribbles per game. Therefore, Billiat would surely play as either a number 9 with Siphiwe Tshabalala behind him or as a number 10 behind Gustavo Paez or Bernard Parker.
Tshabalala would then need to move to the left, a role in the team that has been vacated to an extent by George Lebese, who joined Billiat’s Sundowns, as was Tshabalala’s natural position in years gone by. His diminished pace, however, could see him occupy a deeper midfield role.
So, should Billiat arrive, he would have to take someone’s place in the team, be it Paez, Parker or Tshabalala — in his natural position, he could also fight it out with Bongolethu Jayiya, Joseph Molangoane and William Twala on the right wing. The only question that remains is who it will be and whether Chiefs would want to sign him. — Soccer Laduma
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